


things without all remedy

by protectoroffaeries



Series: they think me macbeth [5]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Love, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, References to Macbeth, References to Shakespeare, Stars, Understanding, quotes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 18:04:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10366359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectoroffaeries/pseuds/protectoroffaeries
Summary: “Things without all remedy Should be without regard. What’s done is done.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> the very last part, which is italicised and in quotes, is a piece of a real letter that Hamilton wrote to Lafayette, dated Nov. 3, 1782

Lafayette comes to America for the colonies' noble cause. He rebels against the King and his wife's father and escapes Europe because he believes there's something to fight for in the New World.

A new nation with a new government where men rule themselves. A free land.

It is a beautiful dream.

~

English is a disgusting language. The sounds are hard and sharp, and sometimes Lafayette spits when he attempts to speak. Rude. Embarrassing. Uncouth.

It is fortunate that Monsieurs Hamilton and Laurens can speak French. Lafayette is grateful that his dear friends are fluent in his native tongue, that they can speak for him when he does not know the correct word, that they are not lost when he makes the mistake of switching tongues in the middle of a thought.

As annoying as English is, it is His Excellency, General Washington's only language.

So, of course, Lafayette must learn, and Hamilton is his teacher.

~

Lafayette is young. Too young to be a general, many say, and at times, he is inclined to agree with those discontent men. He is only nineteen. He steps on the battlefield for the first time at Brandywine. He has spent his whole life learning from the safety of his family's deep pockets and archaic influence.

Now he must meet the real world.

Yes, Lafayette is young, and at times, that makes him foolish. But he sees the way John and Alexander look upon each other, and he feels wiser than the elders who would be blind enough to call them friends.

~

Lafayette's dear friends are not stupid. They are quiet. They look away. They do not falter at the notion of losing each other.

Lafayette knows that were he to receive a letter of his treasured Adrienne’s passing, he would sob like an infant at the news.

John keeps a straight face both times Alexander is mistakenly declared killed in action.

Alexander does not so much as wince in front of his fellow aids when John returns from the battlefield riddled with wounds.

Lafayette would think himself a weak man, or he would think that he misjudged. But by his own missteps, he stumbles upon the two of them crying in each other's arms after one such incident.

The three of them never speak of it, but Lafayette learns a hidden truth about men and love that night.

~

John visits France - not for his leisure, of course, but Lafayette is jealous all the same. He writes his darling wife and tells her to take care of his dear friend.

Undoubtedly, he and Alexander both wish they could also be in France.

~

When John Laurens dies, Lafayette is greatly saddened at the loss. War steals away great men far before their natural time. He cannot say he is  _ surprised,  _ however; John did have a tendency to be reckless in combat.

He wonders who had the unfortunate task of informing Alexander.  

~

In 1807, twenty-five years after the death of John Laurens (almost as many years lost as lived), and three years after the death of Alexander Hamilton, Lafayette's cherished Adrienne passes to her Heavenly life.

Lafayette has lived half a century. He has helped nations rise and fall.He has seen unspeakable violence, he has upsured tyranny,he has raised noble and God-fearing children. He has been imprisoned for his good intentions, he has seen his heart, France, stomped upon, he has had hope and lost it. He has made friends and enemies. He knows the pure and the evil that constantly duel in human hearts.

But for all his years and all his experiences, Lafayette is unprepared for the utter despair that colors him when Adrienne breathes her last breath.

_ “Je suis toute à vous,” _ she says; her last words. She is his. He is hers.

How can he live without her?

Were Alexander still alive, Lafayette would ask. He would extend an olive branch, erase the years of distance and disappointment that grew between them after the war.

Because it is a miracle that Alexander managed to survive for so long without his dear Laurens, even if they only loved each other a fraction of what Lafayette felt for his Adrienne. (Lafayette does not believe that is the case.)

~

“I have always thought the stars are among the most fantastic of God's creations,” young, idealistic Lafayette comments off-hand one night. They give hope for a bright tomorrow through their shimmering; they remind hellish fiends that the Lord is watching. A simple perspective of a simple phenomenon.

John looks at the same sky and says, “That is because you are a good man, Lafayette.”

It takes years for Lafayette to understand, and by then, the stars have turned against him, too.

~

_ “Poor Laurens; he has fallen a sacrifice to his ardor in a trifling skirmish in South Carolina. You know how much I truly loved him and will judge how much I regret him.” _

_ ~ _


End file.
